Tool for removing acoustic ceiling material

ABSTRACT

A tool is designed to simultaneously remove and catch the materials used for finishing acoustical ceilings, thereby greatly reducing or, in some cases, eliminating the need for extensive drop cloth and plastic coverage of the room&#39;s interior and furnishings. The tool may reduce or eliminate the laborious task of cleaning up the removed acoustical ceiling material, which, with conventional methods, often dries on surfaces before clean-up begins. The tool may include a scraper to remove the acoustical ceiling material and a hollow body cavity to accumulate the removed material. The tool may be designed to be ergonomically friendly, lightweight and easy to use within a broad range of prestidigitation.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to hand tools and, more particularly, to a tool for efficiently removing acoustical ceiling material from a ceiling.

Removal of acoustical ceiling material is an extremely messy task that requires as much time spent in cleaning as the actual task of acoustical ceiling material removal itself, perhaps more. The material will usually detach from the ceiling surface rather easily, but tends to disperse in many directions, thereby creating the need to have all objects in the room, including the wall surfaces, covered by some means of shielding that will prevent the acoustical ceiling material from landing on these objects and wall surfaces. Often, the material will dry and stick on these objects and wall surfaces before the user gets a chance to clean up the dispersed material.

A putty knife with a thin blade is commonly used to perform the removal of acoustical ceiling material by first wetting an area of the ceiling material (typically about 2 square feet at a time) and then, after about a 2 minute wait and while holding the putty knife at approximately a 30 degree angle to the ceiling surface, the working edge of the putty knife is applied to the ceiling surface and pushed forward to remove the softened acoustical ceiling material.

A conventional acoustical ceiling material removal device may be designed to be mounted onto a pole, and therefore requires the user to exert force from a distance to remove the acoustical ceiling material. These conventional devices may include a collection bag to collect the removed material. The collection bag, however, may obstruct the working area and may become heavy as it fills, causing additional stress to the user.

As can be seen, there is a need for a tool for removal of acoustical ceiling material that may contain the dispersed removed material to reduce or eliminate post-removal clean-up time.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In one aspect of the present invention, a tool comprises a tray portion having a blade mounting region and a material collection region, the blade mounting region having a surface sloped at an angle relative to a top edge of the tray portion; a blade adapted to attach to the surface of the blade mounting region; and a handle extending from a lower portion of the tray portion.

In another aspect of the present invention, a method for removing acoustical ceiling material comprises wetting at least a portion of a surface having acoustical ceiling material applied thereupon; pulling a blade of a tool along the wetted portion, wherein the blade is mounted within the tool at an angle and collecting removed acoustical ceiling material in the material collection region of the tool.

These and other features, aspects and advantages of the present invention will become better understood with reference to the following drawings, description and claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a tool according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is an exploded view of the tool of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of the tool of FIG. 1; and

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of the tool of FIG. 1, being used to remove acoustical ceiling material from a ceiling.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The following detailed description is of the best currently contemplated modes of carrying out exemplary embodiments of the invention. The description is not to be taken in a limiting sense, but is made merely for the purpose of illustrating the general principles of the invention, since the scope of the invention is best defined by the appended claims.

Various inventive features are described below that can each be used independently of one another or in combination with other features.

Broadly, an embodiment of the present invention provides a tool designed to simultaneously remove and catch the materials used for finishing acoustical ceilings, thereby greatly reducing or, in some cases, eliminating the need for extensive drop cloth and plastic coverage of the room's interior and furnishings. The tool may reduce or eliminate the laborious task of cleaning up the removed acoustical ceiling material, which, with conventional methods, often dries on surfaces before clean-up begins. The tool may include a scraper to remove the acoustical ceiling material and a hollow body cavity to accumulate the removed material.

The tool, as described in greater detail below, may have an ergonomically configured handle arrangement to minimize wrist flexure of the user, thereby providing greater ease of use. The tool may be designed to be pulled back toward the user instead of pushed. This configuration may help minimize tearing of the paper coating on the drywall material surface, typically directly beneath the acoustical ceiling material. The tool may greatly reduce the need for the user to exert a high level of force to remove the acoustical ceiling material. The tool may be designed to be used with the user on a ladder or other elevation means, thereby eliminating the need for an unwieldy extension handle. The user, on the elevation means and positioned within reach of the ceiling, may be optimally located for ergonomic operation of the tool.

Referring to FIGS. 1 through 4, a tool 10 may include a tray portion 12 attached to a handle portion 24. In one embodiment, the tray portion 12 may be formed integrally with the handle portion 24. In one embodiment, the handle portion 24 may extend from the bottom of the tray portion at an angle 30. The tray portion 12 may include a material collection region 26 and an angled blade mounting region 28. The material collection region 26 may form about ⅔ of the tray portion, wherein the blade mounting region 28 may form about ⅓ of the tray portion. The blade mounting region 28 may be angled from about 15 to about 45 degrees, typically about 30 degrees, relative to the top edge 32 of the tray portion 12. A blade 14 may attach to the blade mounting region 28. In one embodiment, carriage bolts 16 may pass through the blade 14 and the tray portion 12. Wing nuts 18 may secure the bolts 16. The bolts 16 may be ½ inch carriage bolts fitting into a 0.210 square hole in the blade 14, thereby preventing rotation of the bolts 16 when the nuts 18 are tightened thereupon. In an alternate embodiment, the blade 14 may be insert-molded into the blade mounting region 28. In a further alternate embodiment, the tray portion 12 may be formed of two halves which may be glued or welded together to captivate the blade within the recess details of the tray portion 12.

In one embodiment of the present invention, a tip 36 of the blade 14 may be rounded with a radius of about 0.060. The blade 14 may be made of a hard material capable of scraping and removing acoustical ceiling material 22. In one embodiment, the blade 14 may be made of stainless steel. The blade 14 may extend about 0.2 inch from a plane formed by the top edge 32 of the tool. In one embodiment, holes 34 in the tray portion 12 may be larger than the diameter of the bolts 16 to allow for height adjustment of the blade 14. Because there is a small gap between the top edge 32 of the tool and the ceiling 20, loss of dislodged acoustical material 22 outside of tool 10 may be minimized. This configuration may also provide sufficient clearance for the protruding portions of the rough textured acoustical material 22. The blade 14 may be disposed near the top edge 32, thereby allowing the user to remove material from the ceiling 20, even close to a side wall or other obstruction.

Acoustical ceiling material 22 may be removed from the ceiling 20 with the tool 10. The blade 14 may remove the material 22, which may collect in the material collection region 26 and in the handle 24, as shown in FIG. 4. The handle 24 may be from about 4 to about 5 inches in length. In one embodiment, the handle 24 may be a solid handle and the removed material may simply collect in the material collection region 26.

The tool 10 may be manufactured from, for example, a lightweight and durable plastic, such as a thermoplastic material, by injection molding.

To operate the tool 10 to remove acoustical ceiling material 22 from a ceiling 20, a user may mount a ladder and spray an area of the ceiling, about 2 by 2 feet, with water to moisten and loosen the material to be removed. After the water treatment has effectively loosened the material, for example, after about 2 minutes, the user may grip the handle 24 of the tool 10, with the material collection region 26 facing forward, and the device may be positioned against the ceiling so that the blade 14 is flush to the ceiling 20. The user may then exert pressure against the ceiling 20 and pull the tool 10 towards them, scraping the acoustical ceiling material 22 off the ceiling 20. The blade 14 may be maintained at an angle for optimal removal of acoustical ceiling material 22 with minimal ceiling damage.

The acoustical ceiling material 22 may accumulate in the material collection region 26 and in the handle 24. The accumulated material may then be dumped into a receptacle. The above process may be repeated until the entire ceiling area is stripped of the acoustical ceiling material 22.

It should be understood, of course, that the foregoing relates to exemplary embodiments of the invention and that modifications may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as set forth in the following claims. 

1. A tool comprising: a tray portion having a blade mounting region and a material collection region, the blade mounting region having a surface sloped at an angle relative to a top edge of the tray portion; a blade adapted to attach to the surface of the blade mounting region; and a handle extending from a lower portion of the tray portion.
 2. The tool of claim 1, wherein the handle is hollow, wherein the hollow portion of the handle is in fluid communication with the material collection region of the tray portion of the tool.
 3. The tool of claim 1, wherein the angle is about 30 degrees.
 4. The tool of claim 1, wherein the blade extends from one side of the tray portion to the other side of the tray portion.
 5. The tool of claim 1, wherein an edge of the blade extends beyond a plane formed by the top edge of the tray portion.
 6. The tool of claim 5, wherein the edge of the blade is rounded.
 7. The tool of claim 1, wherein the handle extends from the bottom of the tray portion at an angle.
 8. The tool of claim 1, wherein the tray portion and the handle are formed of a lightweight plastic and the blade is formed of stainless steel.
 9. A method for removing acoustical ceiling material, the method comprising: wetting at least a portion of a surface having acoustical ceiling material applied thereupon; pulling a blade of a tool along the wetted portion, wherein the blade is mounted within the tool at an angle and the tool includes a material collection region adapted to receive acoustical ceiling material that is removed from the surface; and collecting removed acoustical ceiling material in the material collection region of the tool.
 10. The method of claim 9, wherein the blade of the tool is pulled by pulling on a handle of the tool, the handle being a hollow handle extending from and in fluid communication with the bottom of the material collection region. 